As much as Behnaz Sarafpour has an obvious soft spot for a bow or a bit of lace, she's never been one for full-on froufrou. But for Fall, her already clean sense of American sportswear acquired a harder, slicker edge, as telegraphed by her program notes, which were decorated with shadow images of Alexander Calder mobiles. There was still some Park Avenue 10022 in this collection, although it had clearly derived its new direction from Paris' premier arrondissement. The main takeaway here was a graphic sculpted dress or tunic top worn with lean matte-black stretch pants. Sarafpour poured on more flinty glamour with an ombré fox-fur chubby and a grouping of black cutout dresses. There were the usual pretty little dresses, too—a pleated ombré number with cap sleeves and another in a trompe l'oeil ruffle print—as well as a camel coat with flattened bows on its pockets, worn over a silk blouse and tweed cigarette pants. Sweeter still, though frankly somewhat confounding, was a bobby-soxer ensemble of a long black sweater paired with a tulle circle skirt. Ultimately, this style tug-of-war ended in a draw.
